KR102654071B1 - Ephemeral message galleries - Google Patents

Abstract

A temporary gallery of temporary messages is provided. Transient messages containing media content such as photos or video content are posted to the transient gallery. Transient messages have an associated message duration parameter, which determines the duration for which the message is displayed on the screen during an automated slide-show type view of the gallery, and a gallery participation parameter, which specifies the time value for the continuous availability of the transient message in the transient gallery. has Temporary galleries are removed from availability for viewing upon expiration of the gallery availability parameter. The gallery is removed, in some embodiments, upon expiration of the gallery timer or upon expiration of the gallery participation parameter of the last posted ephemeral message to the gallery, whichever comes first.

Description

EPHEMERAL MESSAGE GALLERIES

<Reference to related applications>

This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Patent Application No. 14/505,478, filed October 2, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference.

<Field of invention>

The present invention relates generally to the display of computer network-delivered transient messages. More specifically, the present invention relates to a temporary gallery of temporary messages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Messages (eg, text, photos or videos) transmitted over computer networks are well known. However, one problem with these messages is that they require a positive action on the part of the user to delete or remove the messages from their devices once they have been viewed or read. As a result, in some cases, users refrain from voluntarily sending multiple messages for fear of crowding or overcrowding the recipient's inbox.

In light of the foregoing, it would be desirable to maintain spontaneity and expand the communicative content of messaging activities while reducing device management burdens imposed on message recipients.

The server has a processor and memory that stores instructions executed by the processor to maintain a temporary gallery of temporary messages. Temporary messages are posted to the Temporary Gallery. Transient messages have associated message duration parameters and gallery participation parameters. Transient messages are removed from the transient gallery in response to identification of an expired gallery participation parameter.

The invention will be more fully understood in conjunction with the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 shows components of an electronic device used in accordance with the invention.
Figure 2 illustrates processing operations associated with an embodiment of the present invention.
3 shows an electronic device for capturing and augmenting transient messages.
Figure 4 illustrates a transient message destination routing interface that may be used in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 5 shows a system implementing an embodiment of the invention.
Figure 6 illustrates temporary gallery processing operations associated with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 7 illustrates a temporary gallery data structure related to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 8 illustrates a temporary gallery display related to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 illustrates a temporary gallery display related to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 10 illustrates operations performed in response to a temporary gallery view request.
Figure 11 shows an account management interface for establishing a temporary gallery to receive temporary messages from multiple users.
Like reference numbers refer to corresponding parts throughout the various views of the drawings.

1 shows an electronic device 100. In one embodiment, electronic device 100 is a smart phone where processor 102 communicates with memory 104. Processor 102 may be a central processing unit and/or graphics processing unit. Memory 104 is a combination of flash memory and random access memory. Memory 104 stores a transient message controller 106 that implements the operations of the present invention. Transient message controller 106 may include executable instructions to access a server that coordinates the operations disclosed herein. Alternatively, transient message controller 106 may include executable instructions to coordinate some of the operations disclosed herein while the server implements other operations.

Transient messages can be text, images, videos, etc. The display time for transient messages is typically set by the message sender. However, the display time may be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient. Regardless of the configuration technique, messages are transient (i.e., messages are deleted or otherwise inaccessible after a certain period of time or after a certain action is taken).

Processor 102 is also coupled to image sensors 115. Image sensors 115 may be known digital image sensors, such as charge-coupled devices. Image sensors capture visual media presented on display 116.

Touch controller 118 is connected to display 116 and processor 102. Touch controller 118 responds to haptic signals applied to display 116. In one embodiment, transient message controller 106 monitors signals from touch controller 118. When a haptic contact in connection with the display of a temporary gallery is observed by the touch controller 118, the temporary gallery is displayed to the user as a sequence of temporary messages.

Electronic device 100 may also include other components commonly associated with smart phones, such as a wireless signal processor 120 that provides connectivity to a wireless network. Power control circuitry 122 and global positioning system processor 124 may also be used. Although many of the components of Figure 1 are known in the art, new functionality is achieved through a transient message controller 106 operating in conjunction with a server.

Figure 2 illustrates processing operations associated with transient message controller 106. Initially, transient messages are captured (200). 3 shows an electronic device 100 and a touch display 116 in which a photo 300 is used as a temporary message.

The next processing operation in Figure 2 is to determine whether to change the timer or message duration parameters (202). Figure 3 shows an example of a display 302 of a message duration parameter. In this example, the indication indicates a default of 5 seconds as the message duration parameter. When an indication is engaged (e.g., via haptic contact), a prompt may be provided for a new message duration parameter (e.g., 10 seconds). This activity (202 - example) results in acceptance (204) of a new timer value. If a new timer value is not specified or no change to the timer occurs (202 - No), control passes to block 206. The user may be prompted to augment the temporary message. As shown in Figure 3, a drawing tool 304 may be provided that allows the user to add a hand-drawn message. Drawing tool 304 may be manipulated by haptic contact to input messages or annotations in visual media. Alternatively or additionally, a keyboard may be used to type augmentations of the message. For example, a tap on touch display 116 may cause a keyboard to be displayed that allows the user to enter a typed message.

As shown in Figure 2, annotations may be accepted in this manner (208). Augmentation can also be in the form of photo filters. That is, photo filters can be accommodated (210). For example, a first right to left swipe motion on touch display 116 may drag a first filter on top of a photo. A second right to left swipe motion on touch display 116 may drag a second filter on top of the photo. This type of filter treatment is described in a commonly owned U.S. patent filed on July 7, 2014. No. 14/325,270, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The next operation in Figure 2 is to accept destinations (212). As explained more fully below, destinations may be used to identify intended recipients of a message or a location or “gallery” from which one or more messages may be accessed. Figure 3 shows an icon 306 calling a destination list. Haptic contact on an icon can result in a destination list of the type shown in FIG. 4 . Figure 4 shows an electronic device 100 that displays a destination list. The destination list may include the destination of “My Story” 402, where “My Story” is a reference to a temporary gallery of temporary messages. The destination list may also include a friends or contacts section 404 that lists various friends who may be temporary message recipients. Haptic contact with the box 406 associated with a listed individual or story places the corresponding individual or story in the destination list.

Returning to Figure 2, after the destination list is specified, the temporary message is sent to the specified destinations (214). For example, temporary messages, if any, are sent to friends selected from section 404. A check is also made to determine whether the message should be posted to the temporary gallery (216). Otherwise (216 - No), processing is complete. If so (216 - Yes), the process of Figure 6 is performed (220). Accordingly, it is possible to send a message to one or more friends and/or post to a temporary gallery.

Figure 5 shows system 500. The figure presents a simplified representation of a set of electronic devices 100_1 to 100_N, each electronic device capable of being configured as a device in FIG. 1 . Each electronic device communicates with a network 502, which can be any combination of wireless and wired networks.

Server 504 is also connected to network 502. Server 504 includes standard components such as a central processing unit 510 that is connected to input/output devices 514 via network 512. Input/output devices 514 may include a keyboard, mouse, display, etc. Also connected to bus 512 is a network interface circuit 516 that provides connectivity to network 502. Memory 520 is also connected to bus 512. Memory 520 stores a temporary gallery module 522 . Transient gallery module 522 stores instructions to be executed by central processing unit 510 to implement the operations of the present invention. For example, temporary gallery module 522 may include instructions that coordinate the processing operations of Figure 2. These operations may be controlled by temporal gallery module 522 or may be performed in conjunction with optional operations performed by temporal message controller 106.

Figure 6 illustrates temporary gallery module 522 operations performed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The first operation in Figure 6 is to determine if a new gallery is needed (600). As discussed in connection with Figure 4, specifying "My Story" 402 as the message recipient results in posting a temporary message to the temporary gallery. If the gallery does not exist (600 - yes), a new gallery is created (602). Alternatively, if a gallery exists and the user wishes to create a new gallery, a new gallery is created (602). The user may be provided with a prompt indicating whether an existing gallery should be used or a new gallery should be specified.

The message is then posted to the gallery along with gallery participation parameters (606). The gallery participation parameter is the temporary period during which a temporary message will continue to exist in the gallery. For example, a first ephemeral message posted to a gallery may have a default gallery engagement parameter of 24 hours. In other cases, gallery participation parameters may be set by the user. Gallery participation parameter values decrease over time. Accordingly, in this embodiment, a temporary message gallery lasts as long as the gallery participation parameters of the last message posted to the gallery.

In another embodiment, a gallery timer may be assigned to a gallery by the user. A gallery timer can be used to establish the lifetime of the associated gallery so that messages posted to such a gallery live no longer than the gallery's lifetime. Accordingly, in some embodiments, all messages posted to this gallery will live for the duration of the gallery's life (regardless of posting time). In other embodiments, messages may be submitted with a gallery participation parameter. In these embodiments, messages expire and become inaccessible at the beginning of the gallery participation parameter or for the remaining lifetime of the gallery.

The next processing operation in Figure 6 is to post an activity indication (608). Examples of activity indications are provided below. A check is next made to determine if expired participation parameters exist (610). If so (610 - Yes), the transient message associated with the expired participation parameter is removed from the transient gallery (614). If the gallery is empty as a result of this removed message (616 - yes), the temporary gallery is terminated and the display of the gallery is removed (618). If the gallery is not empty (616 - no), a check is made for new messages (612). If a new message exists (612 - yes), processing returns to block 604. If no new messages exist (612 - no), processing returns to block 610. If there is no expired participation parameter (610 - no), a check for new messages is done once again (612).

Figure 7 shows the data structure for a temporary message gallery. The first column 700 may have a list of messages. Another column 702 may have a list of message duration parameters for individual messages. Another column 704 may have a list of gallery participation parameters for individual messages. In this example, observe that the values in column 702 add up to 30 seconds. Therefore, the temporary message gallery in this example has 4 messages that will take 30 seconds to display. Observe also that the oldest message (Message_1) will be displayed first and removed after 120 minutes. In this example, the latest message (Message_4) will remain in the temporary gallery for 1320 minutes, at which point the temporary gallery will expire, unless another message is posted. The arrival of a new message changes the gallery timer, but does not change the gallery participation parameters.

Figure 8 shows an interface 800 with a section 802 specifying available ephemeral message galleries (stories) and a section 804 with a list of friends (available destinations for ephemeral messages). Note that section 802 has an indication of transient message gallery activity. Figure 8 provides an example indication of the time the last message was posted to the transient message gallery. Figure 8 also provides an example graphical representation of the amount of time remaining for the transient message gallery. Observe that the first entry was posted 20 minutes ago and therefore has a full circle representing the time remaining for the transient message gallery. On the other hand, the third entry was posted 12 hours ago and has roughly a half-circle to indicate the time remaining for that temporary message gallery. This example considers 24 hours for a transient message gallery. Naturally, other time periods may be used in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

Figure 9 shows an interface 900 with information about the user's stories. Individual stories 902 have an indication of the amount of time remaining. An indication 904 of the number of temporary gallery views is also provided. A display 906 of taken screenshots of the transient message is also provided. This information is important because the intent of the message was to be temporary. If the message recipient ignores these intentions by taking a screenshot, the message sender will know.

Figure 10 illustrates the processing operations performed by temporary gallery module 522 in response to a request for a temporary message gallery. As shown in Figure 8, the user receives a list 802 of available stories. Haptic contact with the story marker acts as a request to view a temporary message gallery.

The first operation in Figure 10 is to display the next message in the gallery (1000). In the example of Figure 7, the oldest message is the first message to be displayed. Next, the message timer starts (1002). The message timer expires at the end of the message duration parameter for the transient message being displayed. In the example of Figure 7, the first message (Message_1) is displayed for 10 seconds. Block 1004 checks whether the timer expires. Upon expiration of the timer (1004 - yes), a check is made (1006) to determine if the gallery is empty. If so (1006 - Yes), processing is complete (1008). Otherwise (1006 - No), processing returns to block 1000. This processing loop repeats until the gallery is empty.

Figure 11 shows an account management interface 1100 for establishing a temporary gallery to receive temporary messages from multiple users. This feature can be used to facilitate celebrity or organizational accounts where numerous authorized users are allowed to post on behalf of a single account. In one embodiment, the username, display name, contact email, and contact phone are assigned by the account administrator. The Authorized Accounts prompt 1102 allows the account administrator to add other users to the temporary gallery. For example, activation of prompt 1102 may result in prompts for user name, display name, contact email, and/or contact phone. Alternatively, activation of prompt 1102 may result in an interface of the type shown in Figure 4 into which authorized accounts can be added.

From the example embodiments described above, it can be seen that the first aspect of the disclosure includes a method comprising:

Maintaining, using one or more computer processor devices configured, a temporary gallery including a plurality of temporary messages, each containing visual media content and available for viewing by one or more recipients via respective user devices, each of A transient message has an associated gallery participation parameter indicating the time value for the continuous availability of the corresponding temporary message in the temporary gallery, and each transient message has an associated gallery participation parameter indicating the time value for the continuous availability of the corresponding temporary message in the temporary gallery. Has participation parameters -;

In an automated operation performed by one or more computer processor devices in response to identifying expiration of a corresponding gallery engagement parameter for a particular one of the plurality of transient messages, removing the particular transient message from the transient gallery; and

In an automated operation performed by one or more computer devices in response to identifying expiration of a gallery availability parameter indicating a time value for continuous availability of the temporary gallery, deleting the temporary gallery.

A second aspect of the disclosure includes one or more computer processor devices, and a memory storing instructions that cause the one or more computer processor devices to perform operations corresponding to those discussed above with respect to the first aspect. Includes a system that includes This system includes a server configured to perform the operations discussed. One or more computer processor devices along with related instructions may in these embodiments provide a transient message controller configured to perform the related operations described herein. The various features discussed below apply to both the method of the first aspect and the system of the second aspect.

Note that the act of removing transient messages from a transient gallery upon expiration of a corresponding gallery engagement parameter may be performed with each of a plurality of transient messages whose gallery engagement parameters expire prior to or upon removal of the transient gallery. let's do it.

The visual media content of each individual ephemeral message may include photos or videos. In some embodiments, one or more of the plurality of temporary messages may include an enhancement made to the visual media content by the user. Alternatively, or additionally, one or more of the plurality of temporary messages may include annotations made by the user. In some embodiments, these annotations are received from the keyboard. Instead, or additionally, these annotations may be received from a drawing tool.

In some embodiments, the gallery availability parameter corresponds to the gallery participation parameter of the last message, one of the plurality of ephemeral messages last posted to the ephemeral gallery. Defined differently, the last message is the most recently posted temporary message among the plurality of temporary messages in the temporary gallery.

Instead, or in combination, the gallery availability parameter may include a gallery timer. In embodiments where the gallery availability parameter is based solely on the gallery timer, the temporary gallery may be deleted upon expiration of the gallery timer, regardless of the status of the gallery participation parameters of each of the plurality of temporary messages. In other embodiments where the gallery availability parameter is based on a gallery timer and a gallery participation parameter of the last message, deletion of the temporary gallery may be performed upon expiration of the gallery timer or expiration of the gallery participation parameter of the last message, whichever is earliest. . In this case, at least some transient messages in the transient entity will become unavailable for viewing when the gallery timer expires, although there may be time remaining in the gallery participation parameters of each of these transient messages.

In some embodiments, maintaining the transient gallery further includes maintaining, for each of the plurality of transient messages, a message duration parameter that indicates the display duration for the corresponding transient message while viewing the transient gallery. can do. In some embodiments, the message duration parameter is a default parameter. In other embodiments, the message duration parameter is set by the user. The method may include, in such cases, receiving a user-specified value for a message duration parameter of a designated transient message, and setting the message duration parameter value of the designated transient message to the user-specified value. In some embodiments, each transient message is automatically assigned a default value that can optionally be changed in response to user input through a user interface presented on the user device.

In some embodiments, the method includes receiving a viewing request for a temporary gallery from a particular user device, and in response to the viewing request, causing sequential display of a plurality of temporary messages, each temporary message comprising: It may further include that successive temporary messages in the temporary gallery are displayed for a period corresponding to the associated message duration parameter before being automatically displayed. In such embodiments, the method may further include, in response to the temporary gallery view request, supplying a temporary message, such temporary message to initiate a message that tunnels the viewed temporary messages; to determine when a message timer expires; and is configured to repeat the feed, start and decide operations until all transient messages in the transient gallery have been viewed. A message timer may correspond to a message duration parameter. In some embodiments, transient messages are supplied in order of occurrence based on oldest posting times.

The method may further include causing display on the user device of an indication of temporary gallery activity. The issue is that the temporary better activity may be displayed as part of a user interface presented on the user device to enable review and/or management of one or more temporary galleries. In some embodiments, the indication of temporary gallery activity may include an indication regarding the time of posting of the last posted one of the plurality of temporary messages. In some embodiments, for example, the indication regarding the time of posting of the last posted message may include a textual indication of the time elapsed since the posting of the last posted message.

Instead, or additionally, the indication of temporary gallery activity may include a graphical indication of the amount of time remaining before expiration of the gallery availability parameter. This graphical display may include user interface elements that progressively decrease in on-screen surface area with a decrease in the amount of time remaining before expiration of the gallery availability parameter.

Instead, or additionally, the display of temporary gallery activity may include display of screenshots taken of one or more of the plurality of temporary messages in the temporary gallery. The display of screenshots may include a screenshot icon along with a numerical indication of the number of captured screenshots of the corresponding transient message.

In some embodiments, the display of transient gallery activity may include multiple gallery views performed on the transient gallery. In these cases, the user interface through which the temporary gallery can be accessed displays, for each temporary message viewable in the user interface, a screenshot icon together with a numerical indication of the number of views received by the corresponding temporary gallery. can do.

In some embodiments, maintaining a temporary gallery includes:

Receiving a transient message and associated message duration parameters from a user;

storing the transient message and message duration parameters in memory, and

Steps to associate a transient message with a transient message gallery

and enabling posting of temporary messages to the temporary gallery by performing operations including.

In some embodiments, the method includes accepting user-selected destinations for one or more ephemeral messages posted to a ephemeral gallery. In some embodiments, destinations may include a temporary gallery and one or more individuals designated as recipients. In such cases, the method may include automatically making a temporary gallery available to designated individuals. In some embodiments, transient messages in a transient gallery may be viewed and available exclusively by the uploading user and by corresponding designated individuals.

In some embodiments, the method includes creating an account management interface; Receiving transient messages from multiple users via an account management interface; and commonly including temporary messages received from multiple users in the temporary gallery. The account management interface thus provides functionality for multiple users to post temporary messages to a single temporary gallery. These multiple user temporary galleries may be created as part of a celebrity or organization account.

In some embodiments, deleting the temporary gallery includes making the temporary gallery no longer viewable upon request. In some embodiments, deleting the temporary gallery includes deleting the temporary messages and the temporary gallery from one or more memories where they are stored.

A third aspect of the disclosure includes maintaining a gallery comprising a plurality of transient messages available for viewing via one or more user devices, each transient message having a time relative to the continuous availability of the corresponding transient message in the transient gallery. Has an associated gallery participation parameter representing a value -;

For each of the plurality of transient messages, a method comprising removing the transient message from a transient gallery in response to identifying expiration of a corresponding gallery participation parameter.

A fourth aspect of the disclosure includes maintaining a temporary gallery comprising a plurality of temporary messages, each containing visual media content and available for viewing via a respective user device, wherein the temporary gallery provides for continuous availability of the temporary gallery. Have a gallery timer that displays the time value -; and

In response to identifying expiration of the gallery timer, the method includes deleting the temporary gallery by making the view inaccessible on demand.

A fifth aspect of the disclosure includes maintaining a temporary gallery containing a plurality of temporary messages available for viewing via one or more user devices;

For each of the plurality of temporary messages, maintaining a corresponding gallery participation parameter indicating a time value for continuous availability of the corresponding temporary message in the temporary gallery;

maintaining a transient gallery timer indicating a time value for continuous availability of transient messages; and

Expiration of the gallery engagement timer corresponding to the last posted message in the transient gallery, where the last posted message is one of a plurality of transient messages most recently posted in the transient gallery, and

Expiration of temporary gallery timer

and deleting the temporary gallery from availability for viewing in response to the earliest of.

A sixth aspect of the disclosure includes maintaining a temporary gallery comprising a plurality of temporary messages, each containing visual media content and available for viewing online;

maintaining a gallery availability parameter indicative of a time value for continuous availability of a temporary gallery, wherein the gallery becomes unavailable upon expiration of the gallery availability parameter;

A method comprising causing display on a user device of a user interface to enable viewing of a temporary gallery, wherein the user interface includes an indication indicating a current value for the amount of time remaining before expiration of the gallery availability parameter. Includes.

An indication representing the current value for the amount of time remaining before expiration of the gallery availability parameter may be configured to automatically change its configuration and/or shape in response to changes in the amount of time remaining before expiration of the gallery availability parameter. Can contain screen objects. A graphical on-screen object may, in one embodiment, have an on-screen area that corresponds to the amount of time the temporary gallery remains available.

A seventh aspect of the disclosure provides a temporary gallery comprising a plurality of temporary messages available for online viewing, each message having a corresponding gallery participation parameter indicating a time value for the continuous availability of the corresponding temporary message in the temporary gallery. Steps to maintain a gallery;

causing display on the user device of a user interface to enable viewing of the temporary gallery, wherein the user interface displays a last posting parameter indicating a time value associated with posting to the temporary gallery of the last posted one of the plurality of temporary messages. Includes an indication - Includes a method of including.

In some embodiments, the posting parameter includes the amount of time that has passed since the last posted transient message to the transient gallery.

An eighth aspect of the disclosure includes maintaining a temporary gallery comprising a plurality of temporary messages each containing visual media content and available for viewing online;

For each of the plurality of temporary messages, maintaining a corresponding gallery participation parameter indicating a time value for continuous availability of the corresponding temporary message in the temporary gallery;

A method comprising causing display on a user device of a user interface to enable viewing of the temporary gallery, wherein the user interface includes an indication indicating the number of views to be received by the temporary gallery.

A ninth aspect of the disclosure includes maintaining a temporary gallery comprising a plurality of temporary messages each containing visual media content and available for viewing online;

For each of the plurality of temporary messages, maintaining a corresponding gallery participation parameter indicating a time value for continuous availability of the corresponding temporary message in the temporary gallery;

A method comprising causing display on a user device of a user interface to enable viewing of the temporary gallery, wherein the user interface includes an indication indicating the number of screenshots taken of messages in the temporary gallery while viewing it. Includes.

A tenth aspect of the disclosure includes creating an account management interface accessible through a plurality of user devices for user management of ephemeral galleries each containing ephemeral messages viewable online and containing visual media content;

Receiving transient messages from multiple users via an account management interface; and

A method comprising including transitory messages received from multiple users into a common transitory gallery.

The method may include enabling performance of various management functions on a common temporary gallery by any of multiple users.

Note that each of the third through tenth aspects of the disclosure may include various features and functionality discussed above with respect to the first and second aspects of the disclosure.

An eleventh aspect of the disclosure provides one or more computer processor devices, and allows the one or more computer processor devices to perform operations corresponding to the operations discussed above with respect to any of the third through tenth aspects of the disclosure. It includes a system that includes a memory that stores instructions for executing instructions.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer storage product having a computer-readable storage medium having computer code, which, when executing instructions, causes a machine to perform any of the first to eleventh aspects of the present disclosure. and perform computer-implemented operations corresponding to the operations described above. Such media and computer code may be those specifically designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or may be of a type well known and available to those skilled in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and holographic devices; magneto-optical media; Includes hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program code, such as application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), programmable logic devices (PLDs), and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of computer code include machine code, such as that produced by a compiler, and files containing higher-level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter. For example, embodiments of the invention may be implemented using JAVA®, C++, or other object-oriented programming languages and development tools. Other embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardwired circuitry instead of, or in combination with, machine executable software instructions.

The foregoing description uses specific terminology, for purposes of explanation, to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details are not required to practice the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description of specific embodiments of the invention is provided for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed; Obviously, many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments have been chosen to best illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical applications, and thus to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and the various embodiments with various modifications suitable for the particular use contemplated. and was described. The following claims and their equivalents are intended to define the scope of the invention.

Claims (21)

As a method,
maintaining a gallery comprising a plurality of ephemeral messages, each containing visual media content including photographic or video material, wherein the gallery is viewable online by automated sequential display of the plurality of ephemeral messages, Each of the temporary messages has a respective posting time at which the temporary message was posted to the gallery; and
causing display on a user device of a user interface enabling viewing of the gallery, wherein the user interface is configured to display a last posting parameter based on a posting time of the last one of the plurality of transient messages in the gallery. Contains a sign indicating,
wherein the last posting parameter is displayed in association with a user interface element representing the gallery, globally indicating a continuous availability value for the gallery. The method of claim 1, wherein the last posting parameter is the time elapsed since the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery. According to paragraph 1,
Maintaining a gallery availability parameter based on the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery, wherein the gallery availability parameter indicates a time value associated with the continuous availability of the gallery for viewing via the user interface. Ham -; and
In response to the gallery availability parameter meeting predefined criteria, the method further comprising making the gallery unavailable for viewing through the user interface. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein each ephemeral message has a default availability period, and the predefined criteria for the gallery availability parameters are such that the time elapsed since the posting time of the last posted ephemeral message is the default availability period. A method that is met when an ideal is met. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the default availability period is 24 hours for each of the transient messages in the gallery. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the last published parameter comprises a numerical indication. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the numerical indication represents the time elapsed since the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the last posting parameter comprises a graphical representation. 9. The user interface of claim 8, wherein the graphical display of the last posted parameter has an on-screen area that is variable in response to variations in the amount of time that has elapsed since the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery. A method containing an element. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the on-screen area of the user interface element providing the graphical representation of the last posting parameter is inversely proportional to the time elapsed since posting the last posted transient message in the gallery, and A method wherein the on-screen area gradually decreases over time. 2. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the user interface includes a view that displays a list of available galleries of transient messages with, for each of the galleries, a respective indication indicating the last posting parameters of the corresponding gallery. method. As a system,
one or more computer processors;
One or more memories storing instructions, wherein the instructions include:
Maintaining a gallery comprising a plurality of ephemeral messages each comprising visual media content including photographic or video material, wherein the gallery is viewable online by automated sequential display of the plurality of ephemeral messages, Each of the temporary messages has a respective posting time at which the temporary message was posted to the gallery; and
causing display on a user device of a user interface enabling viewing of the gallery, wherein the user interface determines a last posting parameter based on the posting time of the last posted one of the plurality of transient messages in the gallery. displayed in association with a user interface element representing the gallery, wherein the last posting parameter globally displays a continuous availability value for the gallery -
A system, executed by the one or more computer processors to configure the one or more computer processors to perform automated operations including. delete 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the last posting parameter is the time elapsed since the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery. The method of claim 12, wherein the instructions are:
Maintaining a gallery availability parameter based on the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery, wherein the gallery availability parameter indicates a time value associated with the continuous availability of the gallery for viewing via the user interface. Ham -; and
In response to the gallery availability parameter meeting predefined criteria, making the gallery unavailable for viewing through the user interface.
A system further configuring the one or more processors to perform operations including. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein each ephemeral message has a default availability period, and the predefined criteria for the gallery availability parameters are such that the time elapsed since the posting time of the last published ephemeral message is the default availability period. A system that is satisfied when the ideal is met. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the indication of the last published parameter comprises a numerical indication. 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the numerical indication represents the time elapsed since the posting time of the last posted transient message in the gallery. 13. The user interface of claim 12, wherein the user interface includes a view that displays a list of available galleries of transient messages with, for each of the galleries, a respective indication indicating the last posting parameters of the corresponding gallery. system. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions,
When the instructions are executed by the machine,
Maintaining a gallery comprising a plurality of ephemeral messages, each containing visual media content including photographic or video material, wherein the gallery is viewable online by automated sequential display of the plurality of ephemeral messages, Each of the temporary messages has a respective posting time at which the temporary message was posted to the gallery; and
causing display on a user device of a user interface enabling viewing of the gallery, wherein the user interface determines a last posting parameter based on the posting time of the last posted one of the plurality of transient messages in the gallery. displayed in association with a user interface element representing the gallery, wherein the last posting parameter globally displays a continuous availability value for the gallery -
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that allows performing operations including. delete

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